"Wellington - Te Papa Museum" Top 5 Page for this destination New Zealand Off The Beaten Path Tip by vtveen

Te Papa, or even better with its officially name: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Its is the national museum of New Zealand and shows a lot about the history and the treasures of this beautiful country. Always a must see destination during our visits to Wellington.

The highlights for us of Te Papa:
"Awesome forces": to get a real idea of the history of the creation of the country and the natural powers which accompanied these 'birth'. Most fascinating was a 'fake' earthquake.
"Mountains to Sea": this part of the museum shows the flora and fauna; there is also an outside garden with typical plants and trees.
"the Maori part of the museum": with a real marae (meeting house), a carved house, a waka (war canoe) and a lot of perfect Maori art.
"Passports": with attention for the different groups of emigrants; yes we found also information about the Dutch 'colony'.
"Made in New Zealand": an exposition with architecture, furniture, design and art from the last 300 years.

These are just some of the highlights, but you will find a lot more interesting things.

Te Papa also has a nice shop with some unique 'Kiwi' gifts and a restaurant and café.
The museum is located at the waterfront close to the city centre of Wellington.

Note: just a (little) minus point was the fact we couldn't find any information about our countryman Abel Tasman, the discoverer of New Zealand.

For more info and pics about Wellington\ see my Wellington page.

Website: http://www.tepapa.govt.nz